


Even the Nights Are Better

by totilott



Series: A Groovy Kind of Love [27]
Category: DCU (Comics), Justice League International (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Seriously -- conflict? NOPE. DON'T HAVE IT, literally nothing but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23202502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totilott/pseuds/totilott
Summary: Days may be for crimefighting, but nights are for cuddling and other pleasant activities.
Relationships: Michael Carter/Ted Kord
Series: A Groovy Kind of Love [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1282328
Comments: 12
Kudos: 63





	Even the Nights Are Better

It’s like a soft rumbling, the gentlest earthquake gradually shaking Ted out of his sleep. He stretches, surrounded by soft heat, and squints his eyes open, spotting flickering black and white images in the dark.

 _“General Smith reports a gas attack!"_ comes a tinny voice. _"He wants to know what to do.”_

_“Tell him to take a teaspoonful of bicarbonate baking soda and a half a glass of water.”_

Ted’s pillow shakes again, accompanied by Booster’s familiar laughter. Turning his head, Ted finds himself looking directly into Booster’s blue eyes, inches from his face.

Booster glances down at him with a smirk and returns his gaze to the TV screen. “Good morning.”

“Whaddya mean, good morning?” Ted sits up, clearing his throat, a self-conscious flare in his stomach at finding himself curled up in Booster's arms like a child. “The movie’s still on, isn’t it?”

“You told me this is one of your favorites.” Booster nods at the black and white movie. “The least you can do is stay awake for it.”

Ted frowns, bleary-eyed, spotting the damp spot on the front of Booster’s T-shirt where he no doubt drooled on it in his sleep. He looks away, mortified. “Yeah, well,” he huffs. “You didn’t spend last night coaxing people out of Chemo's blast radius in downtown Manhattan. I haven’t slept in about thirty hours.”

Booster turns to look at him, a flash of concern in his eyes. “You want to sleep, we can sleep.”

“I don’t want to sleep,” Ted mutters, rubbing his eyes. Even if his body still misses the warmth of dozing in the crook of Booster’s arm. “I wanna, uh --” He clears his throat. _I wanna be with you. I wanna spend the little free time I have with you._ “Watch the movie.”

“It’s almost done, isn’t it?”

“Oh but this is the best part,” Ted sits forward in his seat, eyes fixed on the screen.

Booster looks at him. "What part?"

"Shush. In a moment." They wait watching merry anarchy on the screen, until finally Groucho Marx points a rifle out of a window. _“Remember,"_ Ted proclaims in perfect unison with Groucho. _"You’re fighting for this woman’s honor, which is probably more than she ever did!”_

His own laughter is joined by Booster’s, and he turns to find his best friend looking at him, amused disbelief in his eyes.

“You’ve seen this a few times, then.”

Ted smiles self-consciously and turns back to Booster’s huge TV-screen. “It’s a classic.” He feels warm fingers teasing his neck, pulling at his shoulder.

“C’mere,” Booster murmurs, and Ted sighs and allows himself to follow that grip, be pulled back against the couch, close to Booster, who wraps a heavy, warm arm around him, pressing his lips to Ted's temple for a short sweet second. It still feels strange -- being held, not being the one doing the holding. He didn't think twice about it with various girlfriends, it was cute when they let him be the little spoon. In Booster's arms he feels -- _safe,_ safer than he thought he'd feel. Protected, even though he has to ignore the part of himself that insists how emasculating it is.

But it's nice. It’s strange, a little embarrassing, but it’s definitely nice.

“What do you think?” Ted asks softly, settling against Booster’s torso, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I like the little Italian guy, he's funny."

"That's Chico."

"Why's he the only Italian though, if they're brothers?"

"I don't know, he was always doing that Italian shtick." Ted stretches his legs with a groan. "I guess in those days if you got famous with a gimmick you had to stick to it."

Booster snorts gently. "Same as us, then."

Ted smirks, glancing up at him. "Why, you thinking about changing your gimmick?"

"Hardly." Booster rubs his forehead. "Or, well, I've been thinking about maybe switching the star out. Get a symbol of my own, you know? Make me stand out more."

"How can you stand out _more?"_ He flinches and giggles sharply when Booster pinches his side. "Look, you're six foot five, dressed in metallic gold, you're hard to miss."

"Like you're an objective judge of that," Booster titters, giving Ted's forehead a soft kiss.

"What would your symbol even be?"

"That's the problem, I don't know!" Booster frowns at the TV. "There's no cute little symbol that makes people go, like, 'Oh, gold!', you know?"

Ted squints an eye in thought. "Well, the periodic symbol for gold is Au. Maybe you could have that on your chest."

"Oh sure, I'll be Au-Man!" Booster tilts his head back, giggling. "Whenever people stub their toe and cry out 'Oww!", Au-Man will be there!"

Ted giggles as well, jabbing a knuckle into Booster's side, who squirms and grapples his arm away. "You're such a goof."

"Well, you're a nerd," Booster mutters affectionately.

"You're missing the end of the movie."

"Fine, then."

Ted sits up to adjust his position, and immediately Booster's hand is there, pulling him close again, his arm wrapping around him, locking him in place against his torso. It's hard for Ted to suppress a smile, the casual way Booster demands him to stay close.

“You know, I’m really not used to these old movies,” Booster mutters. “Like one thing's the black and white thing, but the... the timing’s all different, there’s no background music most of the time --”

Ted chuckles. “It’s, what, sixty years old? That’s nothing compared to the timegap between current movies and those in _your_ time.”

“But that's --” Booster chews his lips, searching for the words. “We don’t have, like, _movies_ per say, in my time. It’s -- I came here and it was its own thing, you know?” He gestures at the flickering images. “I guess I got used to what movies are _now.”_

Ted frowns in disbelief. “You're telling me you don’t have movies in the future?” 

“I mean it’s -- we call them movies, but they’re like -- immersive and customizable and you’re --” Booster gestures in the air, then sighs when he can’t find the right word. _“Involved._ It’s not this passive thing where you just sit and watch something that was, like, already done and completed years ago.”

Ted squints up at him.

“I mean, I like it," Booster quickly adds, flashing Ted a smile. "I like movies the way they are here. Where you can talk, and look away, and --” He exhales softly. “Fall asleep on my chest.”

“I was just resting my eyes,” Ted murmurs without looking at him and wipes his face.

Booster grins at him. “You like to practice your snoring when you’re resting your eyes?”

Ted clears his throat, embarrassed, but makes an involuntarily squeak as Booster pulls him tight and kisses his ear.

“It was cute,” Booster murmurs, his voice barely more than a whisper. “You’re cute.”

Ted blinks at the screen, offering Booster a weak chuckle. Unsure how he feels about being seen as _cute._ Unsure how they’re supposed to straddle the line tonight.

It’s been almost two weeks since they made up, almost two weeks since they started anew, and it’s been... wonderful. Wonderful and more than a little hormonal, like they can’t get enough of each other, can’t keep their hands off each other. Ted hasn’t received any comments about being suspiciously absent from the Embassy every night, and Booster hasn’t received any complaints from the neighbors either.

So far.

Two weeks of getting reacquainted in Booster’s humongous bed, until they vaguely agreed that maybe they ought to spend time together in other ways too.

Like a movie night. Like they used to, back when they were just best friends. 

It should feel normal, more normal than heated moments together wrapped in expensive cotton sheets. And yet Ted feels like he’s out of practice. Like he has to concentrate trying to remember how they used to be together.

Booster hugs him even closer, nuzzling his nose behind Ted's ear, and hums contentedly.

Okay, so they definitely didn’t use to sit like this during their movie nights. The... The cuddling is new. The tingle down his spine when Booster softly presses his lips to the shell of his ear, that one wasn’t a regular feature when they used to hang out years ago.

“Hey, careful,” Ted murmurs stupidly, not taking his eyes off the screen as the final intertitle shows THE END.

“Movie’s done,” Booster grins back, moving a warm hand to Ted’s side, exploring fingers trailing along the bottom edge of his T-shirt. “We're allowed to get distracted now, aren't we?”

Ted exhales through parted lips as Booster bows his head to kiss his neck, his gentle hand slipping under the T-shirt, teasing skin, and he can’t deny how his body already responds, how much warmer his skin suddenly feels. 

That bizarre, incredible fact proven to him nightly. That Booster could really want this. Want him.

“Boos,” he smiles, a little out of breath, pulling Booster’s hand out from under his shirt. “I thought we wanted tonight to be a little different.”

“I know, Junebug,” Booster chuckles against his neck. “I know. I’m just -- You’re so hot it’s hard not to.”

Ted feels his face heat up, and clears his throat still looking at the screen, where a text box tells them next up is a sixties' horror movie.

Ted dives out of Booster's embrace, finding the remote control, and starts switching between channels, unsure what he's looking for.

“You still sleepy?” Booster asks, resting his hand against Ted’s back.

Ted settles comfortably next to Booster once again, going through his friend's impressive collection of channels. “No,” he lies.

“Got the sleeping over and done with during the movie, huh?” Booster stretches out his legs with a grunt, then lets them rest against the floor again. “Thought you liked that movie.”

“I do,” Ted insists gently. “It’s just been a long couple of days.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Ted snorts with a smile. “Nothing to talk about. We’ve been busy at the League, that’s all.”

Booster chuckles, teasing a fingertip along Ted’s arm. “I feel bad keeping you up every night.” 

“Ah, well,” Ted mutters, blushing. “I always fall asleep here.” He clears his throat. “Eventually.”

Booster giggles, then in another moment Ted can feel him tense slightly, holding his breath. Ted looks up at him, but Booster's eyes are still focused on the TV. Glancing at the screen he discovers the channel surfing has landed them on a football match. The sun gleams off helmets, spiked shoes kick up grass.

"You want to watch the game?" Ted asks conversationally, already suspecting the answer.

Booster clears his throat. "Don't really follow football anymore," he murmurs, his voice a little strained.

Ted switches channel, some religious give-us-all-your-money thing, then glances back at Booster, confused and curious. Nudging up against something he's never quite understood, Booster's avoidance of a sport he once apparently was a star player in. "I guess it's barely the same activity as the one you knew." He ventures, studying Booster's face. "Are the rules very different now? From when you played?"

"Not really, I think." Booster's brow is knotted in thought, regarding the TV screen, his blue eyes troubled. He pulls a restless hand through his hair and sighs. "Just -- too many memories. I see football now and it's... hard not to start thinking about -- things I don't want to think about."

"I'm sorry," Ted murmurs, his sympathy for Booster's discomfort winning over his curiosity. He feels cruel, pressing the issue. He can tell by Booster's expression this isn't the night for it.

"Hey, you can't control what the channels show." Booster pauses, then makes a face. "Like whatever this thing is."

A middle-aged man with badly dyed hair raises his arms in a oddly empty studio and roars out a hallelujah. Ted quickly continues channel surfing, skipping by a music video with flashing lights and colours, the singer sneering, _"...You say to me I don't talk enough but when I do I'm a fool..."._

He presses on, glancing towards Booster, still the hint of a frown tensing his forehead. "By the way, I, uh," Ted begins, searching for a different subject. "I stole your bed, you know."

Booster looks at him. "My bed?"

"Well, your mattress. At the Embassy." Ted shrugs. "It's just been propped up against the wall in your old room all this time, and the bedsprings on mine were, well, well and truly done. So I switched mine with yours."

There's a glimmer of mischief in Booster eyes. "So what have you been doing in that bed to ruin the bedsprings?" he grins, the light from the TV glinting off his teeth.

"Nothing!" Ted replies quickly, chuckling. "They've just been busted for a while."

Booster pulls him close, face to face. "So you're saying I broke them before I left?" The heat from Booster's body is palpable through their clothes, and Ted feels something in his body vibrate and tighten as he squirms, trying to gently extract himself. "And I had such a good time breaking them with you, too."

"You got into the League later than me, you doofus," Ted murmurs in between Booster's kisses. "Your mattress is newer than mine."

"And now you come here to ruin _my_ bedsprings," Booster teases, unwilling to let go. "This is going to get expensive after a while."

"That thing in there?" Ted nods towards the bedroom, aware he's already blushing. "That one's going to last a hundred years. Claire obviously buys quality compared to Max."

Booster chuckles, a little thinly, and lets go. 

"You should come visit, you know." Ted tells him, looking into his blue eyes. "At the Embassy."

Booster sits up, suddenly ill at ease. "I, um -- I don't know."

"Come on, they all know you and I have made up. They're all waiting to see you." Ted offers a grin. "Tora even said she'd bake you something. Though I can't promise it won't have fish guts or mussels or something in it."

Booster rests his gaze, unfocused, at the floor. "I just don't think it's time yet."

"But what are you waiting _for?"_ Ted whines softly, frustrated. "They all saw you in Kahndaq anyway. A little worse for wear, granted, but --"

"I don't feel ready yet, okay?" Booster replies, a little sharply. "I still -- Um, you know. With the -- The way I quit, I --"

Ted blinks at him, sympathetic but confused. "No one's mad at you," he tells him softly, searching Booster's face.

Booster glances up, meeting Ted's gaze, then looks away again. "I'll see them. Okay? I'll see them when I'm ready."

"Sure," Ted tells him softly, frustrated that he yet again managed to find a subject to make Booster miserable. What a feat when Booster's not like Ted, not a minefield of old shame and self-consciousness at every turn. Booster who takes just about anything in his stride, and still Ted manages to stumble into the few rare subjects Booster doesn't want to talk about.

He doesn't understand why the subject of the League should be a sore point anyway. They've talked lots about the League after they made up, Booster asking almost daily how everyone is, but bizarrely refusing to come meet them himself.

Ted jumps when he feels Booster's warm hand against his face, moving a stray lock behind his ear. "Your hair's getting long," Booster murmurs with a tired smile as he pulls his fingers through the curls.

"I know," Ted replies, turning back to switching between channels, eyes on the screen. "I haven't gotten around to getting it cut."

"You look good with longer hair," Booster tells him, every light tug of his fingers making Ted's body tingle. "You should let it grow."

"Buddy, you wouldn't say that if you saw me ten years ago," Ted smirks, glancing up at him. "It doesn't get long and luscious, I promise. it just gets big and dry and weird, the world's saddest afro."

Booster laughs. "I don't believe you."

"I'm not kidding." Ted lifts his hand, pinching hold of a curl at his forehead and pulling it down, regarding it. "I'm struggling getting it all into my cowl as it is."

"Okay, yeah, I have noticed you're starting to get a little bulge at the back of your head in the costume," Booster grins, continuing to play with Ted's hair.

"See? I can't have long hair with that suit, it doesn't look right. _You_ should grow your hair out, you know. Your hair's uncovered anyway. You could --" Ted stops, frowning, and pulls Booster's hand away by the wrist. "Don't use that hand."

Booster groans, letting his head fall back against the couch. "It's fine. It doesn't hurt."

Ted regards the adhesive bandages, one on the front of Booster's hand, one on the back. A grim reminder that there was sharp metal stuck straight through this hand two weeks ago. "You're not supposed to use it."

"They're removing the stitches tomorrow."

"Which means it would really suck to tear something now."

"I'm not gonna tear my stitches playing with your hair," Booster objects, frustrated. He sighs, flexing his fingers, and rests the bandaged hand along the back of the couch. "There, okay? Out of commission. Not gonna use it," he murmurs sullenly.

There's a familiar regretful sting in Ted, making Booster annoyed. Being the one to say no and lay down the rules when it comes to that hand. It obviously doesn't hurt like it did ten days ago, but still he feels strangely responsible, the task of protecting Booster's hand weighing heavily on him. He sits up slightly, delivering a kiss to Booster's lips, who thankfully accepts it without hesitation. "Good boy," Ted teases, which makes Booster grin and kiss him again with a satisfied hum.

Next, Booster makes a strange noise of exclamation, a high-pitched squeak against Ted's lips, and for a moment Ted thinks he's managed to hurt his hand even as it lies limp on the top of the couch. Ted opens his eyes and sees Booster staring wide-eyed at the TV-screen. “Oh, you’re -- look look look!” Booster hisses, letting go of Ted to sit forward in his seat, face lit up by the TV screen.

Ted turns his attention to the TV just in time to catch a glimpse of Bea on a city street, halfway turned away from the camera, arms folded as she talks silently to someone out of shot.

_“...Saw disaster averted yet again. It was during the evening rush yesterday that Chemo made its appearance, forcing several streets and countless commuters to...”_

There’s a panning shot of crowds gathered behind temporary barriers, before the screen cuts to the Bug parked, somewhat precariously, in an empty intersection. Not many suitable open spaces in midtown Manhattan.

“We don’t have to watch this, you know,” Ted mutters, reminded of their strained conversation just minutes ago.

“No, I want to watch it.” Booster sits transfixed, an excited grin on his face.

_“...Before the Justice League -- its ranks still thin after the death of the illustrious Mister Miracle -- made the scene and diverted the crowds after some...”_

“They still think Scott’s dead?” Booster says without taking his eyes off the screen, wonder in his voice.

“Yeah, Scott wanted it that way,” Ted explains, glancing to Booster. “Thought it’d be easier for Barda and him to live the civilian life for now without people clamoring for Mister Miracle.” Something pricks in him, more out of habit than anything, his body immediately feeling restless when reminded of Scott's fake death. Even more now, in Booster's company. He chews the inside of his cheek. “Between you and me, I’m not even sure he wants to put on the costume again. Not after everything Barda had to --”

“Oh!” Booster gasps as the camera judders slightly, like it’s zoomed in on something far away, and finally settles on a fuzzy blue outline. The camera adjusts, and the image becomes clear -- Ted standing on a street corner, hands on his hips, looking at something in the distance. The sunlight gleams off his goggles as he raises his hand to shade his eyes from the sun and moves his lips emphatically, as if he’s shouting something, though the footage is silent to not interfere with the newsreaders' voiceover. Having delivered whatever message he wanted, he tilts his hips and turns his head, scanning the surroundings.

“Fuck, that’s a good shot,” Booster murmurs in hushed awe.

Ted regards himself on the screen in that strange semi-detached way he always does when he sees images of himself on the job. Like it isn’t really him -- like the blue suit, the cowl, the goggles, signifies that it’s someone else, another person. This entirely other entity. 

That’s the Blue Beetle there on the screen.

While Ted Kord’s just sitting on his best friend’s couch, sleepy and stuffed with Asian takeout. 

Or maybe that’s what he tells himself so he won’t really notice how tired and pale he looks on that screen, how off-putting his gut looks in his skin-tight costume. How many pounds is it the camera said to add, anyway? He even notices the subtle bulge at the back of his cowl. He really should get that haircut.

There's a shot of J'onn speaking to a policeman, and then the camera cuts back to the studio, to the serious, focused face of the news reader as he moves over to the next item, something about the stock market. 

Booster flops back against the couch, then exhales softly and gently tilts over until his shoulder meets Ted’s. “Mmm,” he murmurs, shuffling over until he can rest his head on Ted’s shoulder, a goal that takes a moment considering how much taller he is than Ted. “Wish I had a video recorder so I could get that shot on tape.”

Ted snorts softly.

“You looked so.... _dashing.”_ Booster teasingly trails the tip of his nose down the side of Ted’s neck, then tilts his face to press soft kisses down the same path.

“I looked tired,” Ted smirks, squirming a little. “Even with the cowl and goggles could really see how exhausted I was.”

Booster’s lips pause against his skin. “You want to go to sleep?”

“I -- no,” Ted chuckles. “Booster, I told you.”

Long, warm fingers tug at the drawstring of Ted’s sweatpants. “Well, then -- I know something else we can do.” Booster delivers a quick, warm lick right where Ted’s jaw meets his neck. “All night long, if you want.”

A strange high-pitched giggle escapes Ted and he gently squirms out of Booster’s arms. “Booster,” he tells him.

Booster’s head flops back against the top of the couch, eyes closed. “Okay,” he murmurs, a resigned smile on his lips. “I’ll behave.”

There’s a small fluttering tension inside Ted. “Look, I'm just saying --” He trails an idle thumb over Booster’s hand. “We’ve been a little -- predictable these two weeks, you know?”

Booster turns his head, squinting one inquisitive eye at him. “Predictable?”

“You know, like --” Ted clears his throat. “Every moment we’ve been together we’ve been -- uh.”

Booster turns his face back at the ceiling and grins. “Going at it like rabbits?”

“Pretty much.”

Booster exhales through parted lips, his grin gone, eyes focused on the ceiling as he frowns. “And now you’re, um. Sick of it.”

“No!” Ted tells him, more emphatically that he meant to. “Absolutely not. _Definitely_ not.” He chuckles self-consciously. “What I mean is I --” He sighs, not sure what he means. “I just, I don’t know, I -- I think it’s about how I.... I’ve missed this too. You know?”

Booster regards him out of the corner of his eye. “Missed what?”

“I guess the -- the friend part too.” He gestures weakly at the TV. “Like watching stupid movies together and -- and just relaxing. Together. Hanging out.”

Booster lifts his head off the backrest, sitting up, and gives Ted a concerned look. “Okay, ah -- Of course. I’m sorry.” He pulls his fingers through his hair. “I’ve just been pawing at you all night, I didn’t know you really wanted this to be --”

“No, I -- I don’t know what I wanted,” Ted snorts. “I don’t want to stop doing -- the other stuff, not at all. I guess I was just a little worried that -- that we’d just -- be stuck in that groove and that we couldn’t be, like...” He clears his throat. “Buddies as well.”

Booster giggles, looking at him. “You were worried we would never manage to spend another five minutes together without tearing each other’s clothes off?”

Ted wipes his face with his hand and titters nervously. There’s a hot glow of embarrassment in his chest. “Something like that.”

Booster tilts forward, giggling helplessly. It takes him a moment to calm down, trailing a gentle hand along Ted's arm. “Okay, so I’ve -- God. Ted. I’ve just been so excited and -- and happy lately, you know?” He offers Ted a bright smile. “Maybe that’s what's made me a bit more, um, enthusiastic than usual.”

Ted inhales and looks down at his hands. “I didn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed it -- a lot,” he murmurs, his ears burning.

Booster grins. “But I never figured we’d just stop hanging out, you know. Doing stupid stuff together.”

“Okay. Good,” Ted mutters, secretly a little relieved. “I guess -- I’m just trying to figure out how this works when we’re not both, uh, living next to each other at the Embassy, and, you know, working together like we did.”

“Yeah,” Booster concedes, glancing at the dark window. “I feel like I only get to see you, like, one third of the time I used to,” he murmurs, not meeting Ted’s eyes. There’s a pause before Booster swallows, suddenly looking to Ted with his usual bright smile. “Which is heaps better than _never_ seeing you,” he adds. “But I -- yeah, I guess that’s maybe part of why when I do see you, I get a little...” He licks his lips, searching for a word. “Energetic.”

Ted rubs his hands together, a restless energy within him. “I don’t mean it’s an issue or anything,” he murmurs, not looking up. “Like it’s fine. It’s fine, I didn’t, uh, mean for this to be a conversation.”

“Sure,” Booster replies with a smirk. “It's good that we can talk about it, right? Before it becomes an issue."

Ted makes a weak noise of agreement, keenly aware of the mess they made of everything, months ago.

Booster gives him a look. "Okay, so -- What if we, like, set one day every week we just -- just do things like this? Would that work for you?”

“A scheduled buddy day?” Ted makes a face, then realizes it must sound like he’s making fun of Booster’s suggestion. He clears his throat. “Uh... Yeah. I guess if you’re okay with that, we could, uh, try.”

“I mean it’s not like I won’t be, you know,” Booster’s looks at him through golden eyelashes, his voice dropping low. “Very temped.” His gaze drops down Ted's body, taking him in before finding his face again. “But fuck, imagine how good the next night’s gonna be.”

That one sends a tight little shiver down Ted’s spine, Booster’s unashamed, enthusiastic desire taking him by surprise once again. In a moment, the notion of falling into Booster’s bed once again doesn’t feel like a bad idea at all. Right now it actually seems like a downright excellent idea. 

Ted smiles shyly at Booster and trails his hand along his forearm. The skin is warm and smooth against his palm. Even Booster’s wrists are beautiful, his hands so strong and slender. And he’s so ridiculously good at using them, too.

“Like Wednesdays?” Booster smiles.

“Wednesdays?” Ted murmurs, realizing how quickly he’s lost the thread of this conversation.

“For buddy night,” Booster reminds him. “It’s my rest day, so I’ve usually got a bit more free time.”

“Sure,” Ted mutters, looking at Booster’s full lips. “Wednesdays.”

“So, you want completely hands-off, heterosexual buddy night?” Booster grins. “Or is cuddling and kissing okay?”

“Uh,” Ted mutters, a jittery nervous feeling in him appearing the moment Booster brought out the... orientational terms. The heat in him suddenly accompanied by a sting of shame. “I don’t know. I.... Boos, I don’t know, I mean --” He sits back again, his hand leaving Booster’s arm. “I didn’t mean for, for this to be me setting all the terms here.”

“You’re not,” Booster replies sharply. 

“So why don’t you tell me how you want to do this?”

“I’m the one making with all the suggestions!” Booster shifts in his seat, his hands tensing. “I just want this thing to work for you.”

“I -- I _know,”_ Ted says, a little softer. Realizing this will easily develop into a a full-on argument if they don’t change course.

Still figuring out how to act together, talk together. What pitfalls are still there.

He looks up at Booster, a little guilty. “I know. I’m just saying it’s, uh, hard enough trying to figure out what the problem is. Or not _problem,_ it’s not a problem, I just --”

Booster inhales, his face softening a little.

“I don’t know what’s gonna work or not work.”

“So we experiment,” Booster smirks, tilting his face up as he meets Ted's gaze. “You’re a scientist. That means you’re good at that.” 

Ted snorts. “Oh, does it?”

“Uh huh,” Booster murmurs, a mischievous smile tensing his mouth. He moves in closer, resting his arm on the back of the couch, behind Ted. “I’ve seen you do... All kinds of experimenting. I love it.”

Ted exhales, feeling the heat of Booster’s body, his face so close, without them even touching. “Especially when you’re the subject, I take it?”

Booster smiles, eyelashes fluttering slightly, pausing right in front of Ted's face, his lips barely touching Ted’s. “Those are my favorite, yeah.”

_Ohh. Oh, this is too much._

Ted swallows and then leans forward to meet Booster’s sweetly parted lips. But Booster sits back out of Ted’s reach, giggling softly. “You haven’t told me if you want buddy night with kissing or not,” he murmurs, white teeth bared in a grin.

“I -- I,” Ted stutters, confused. He clears his throat, his body aching from the sweet anticipation. “Today’s not Wednesday.”

“It’s still buddy night,” Booster grins. “I even watched a weird ancient movie for you.”

“Oh, was it that bad?” Ted teases, some of mischievousness rubbing off on him. “Was it such an ordeal you feel I should make it up to you?”

Booster trails long fingers up Ted’s thigh, making Ted’s body tingle. “I should say yes, shouldn’t I? Make you work for it.” He grins and bites his lip. “But no, it was pretty funny.” He makes a face. “Annoyingly enough.”

“I knew it!” Ted crows. “You didn’t wanna like it, but you did.”

Booster snorts. “You haven’t answered the question.”

“Fine,” Ted sighs emphatically, rolling his eyes. “Let’s have buddy nights with kissing, then.”

“And cuddling?”

“And cuddling,” Ted grants, noticing the grateful expression on Booster’s face. Ted’s hand finds Booster’s wrist once again, this time pulling him towards himself with a grin. “But tonight’s still not Wednesday,” he murmurs low.

“It’s -- it’s Wednesday in spirit,” Booster giggles, making a show of fighting to get out of Ted’s grasp, but being careful not to fight enough to actually escape. “It’s pseudo-Wednesday.”

“Oh, you're throwing the fancy Greek terms at me now?” Ted sits up, following Booster's retreat to the other side of the couch, where he winds an arm around him, pressing him up against the corner. 

Booster squirms happily and giggles even more when Ted's other hand finds the back of his head, gripping a fistful of hair. 

“You do know ‘pseudo’ means false?” Ted murmurs, his gaze dropping to Booster’s lips. “So ‘false Wednesday’ is still not Wednesday.”

“You goddamned nerd,” Booster titters, and is immediately silenced by Ted kissing him. Emphatically, passionately kissing him, making Booster whimper sweetly and thrust against him.

It’s delicious, it’s the best. Every time Ted finds himself with Booster like this he can’t help but think it feels even better than it did yesterday; it somehow feels better kissing him and holding him and being with him than it’s ever done before.

It’s the best thing he’s ever experienced, and it’s the best thing every single time.

“Okay,” Booster breathes, fingertips digging into Ted's back, hands tensed with excitement. “You’ve convinced me. It’s not Wednesday. Not even a little.”

Ted lets his head drop, resting his forehead against Booster’s shoulder, and giggles.

“So you wanna -- “ Booster swallows, out of breath. “Head into the next room and celebrate how it’s not Wednesday?”

Ted exhales, pressing a soft kiss to Booster’s neck. “Yeah.”

“You sure you’re not too sleepy?”

Ted makes a noise, winding both his arms around Booster, moving him further down on the couch with a grunt, deliciously under him, and rocks his hips against him, knowing Booster can feel how hard he's getting. “Does this seem sleepy to you?”

“Oh, definitely not,” Booster grins. He waits until Ted’s moved off him, and springs to his feet with endearing enthusiasm. Then he pulls Ted to his feet by the collar of his T-shirt, finding his lips the moment he’s upright.

“I gotta, uh,” Ted tries angling his face away, but can’t resist giving Booster another peck before he pulls himself off him. “Make a detour to the bathroom. Be right there.”

“Sure,” Booster murmurs happily, giving him a last kiss before heading into the corridor, already in the process of pulling off his shirt, and slips into the bedroom.

Ted exhales deeply, happily, hurrying to Booster’s bathroom so as not to lose his own momentum. But peeing with an erection is the same ordeal it’s always been, and it takes him a little while to find a comfortable and feasible angle.

His mind already wanders to the thought of Booster right now, naked skin against cool covers, waiting for him, anticipating him. So ready to shamelessly, breathlessly enjoy him.

Ted can’t help but smile. Moments like this it feels so unnecessary getting hung up on terms and definitions. Why bother to debate semantics when he and Booster just.... enjoy this so much? When they’re this happy, and safe, cocooned in Booster’s apartment, alone together.

When his body burns like this, yearns like this, acting like it did when he was in his teens, except he’s not a stupid teenager anymore. He’s got a lifetime of experience and something almost like wisdom, and all that experience tells him that this... is right. It feels right, it feels good and gratifying and wonderful and --

God, he’s so horny.

He can barely find the time to dry himself off after washing, and hurries into the bedroom with damp hands. “I hope you’re in the mood for more experimenting, because I can tell I really --”

His gaze finds Booster on the bed.

Gorgeous. Naked. And snoring like a freight train.

**Author's Note:**

> As I was writing this I kept thinking to myself, "This is nothing. This doesn't go anywhere. This is just pure self-indulgence, how dare I make people read this." But I just wanted something calm, something sweet and domestic -- I just wanted to let them watch a Marx Brothers movie (this one was Duck Soup, if you couldn't tell) and goof around together. Plot will pick up very soon, but not today.
> 
> Life in Booster's future is once again completely pulled out of my own ass. I imagine movies and video games sort of merging to evolve into its own kind of immersive media, and Booster coming to our own time and really enjoying visual entertainment that doesn't demand his attention throughout. 
> 
> **[Songs:](https://open.spotify.com/user/tilly_stratford/playlist/4SqomvmhyncWPEAobYUZ88?si=DNXWufsLSs29KqRywW2U9A)**  
>  Unbelievable - EMF  
> Even the nights are better - Air Supply


End file.
